The Journey of Happenchance

Our speaker today was Eileen Marchant M.B.E. J.P. The Journey of Happenchance. The title partially comes from Eileen remembering asking her dad questions and her dad replying happenchance it will, in other words things are left to fate sometimes.

Eileen was born 8 days after WW2 finished and was adopted at the age of 6 months old by a couple who lived on a farm near Skipton , North Yorkshire .She was a tomboy who in her own words ran wild in the countryside. The first bit of Happenchance was that she passed her 11 plus exam, much to the surprise of her teacher because she came from the wrong side of the tracks according to him.

She went to Keighley Grammar School and then on to become a teacher of P.E. and sport at various schools before moving to Huddersfield.

Eileen was an improvement officer for with Ofsted, a Green party and Conservative candidate for local elections over the years.

A Magistrate for 28yrs and was awarded the MBE in 2015.

Eileen believes sport can keep some kids on the straight and narrow, and from that ragamuffin kid she has got to where she is now.